Lifestyle

Time to Spend: Three Things for Which You Should Never Cheap Out

Budgets are the lifeblood of responsible spenders. You don’t just hit the mall on a spender bender. You don’t just go out to eat at the steakhouse that costs $200 per person and flash the credit card. After behavior like that, the only thing that will be in your wallet is a steaming hole where your common sense used to be.

Credit card companies want you to believe that with the right slab of titanium in your pocket, the good times never have to end. Money is no object. And the memories you make are worth whatever this trip is going to cost you. None of that is true. You have to realize there is a limit at the end of the credit. That is when the bill comes due. That is also when those big numbers in small print that represent your interest rate loom large and begin the slow process of taking over your life.

That said, while budgeting and care is always necessary, there are times when the price tag is only one part of the story. The reason you are saving the money in the first place is so you will have it for the things that are truly important. Here are a few of those things where spending big is the right thing to do:

Investing

One of the best reasons to save money is to invest it so that it can make more money. You should not be the only one working. Your money should also be working and making its own way in the world. If this sounds confusing to you, seek out advice from a premier financial planner San Diego has in abundance.

That part of the country is home to some of the best wealth managers around. They would all tell you that investment is not an area for frugality. The reason rich people are able to take advantage of big opportunities in the stock market is they have the money to invest when the time is right. One of the best reasons to save money is so that you have the money to invest and take advantage of opportunities in the market when they come around. When it comes to investing, it really does take money to make money. You have to save big to invest big.

Your Mission-Critical Computer

Store shelves are filled with junk computers. There might even be a useful place in the world for extremely low-budget computers. I just don’t happen to know where that place would be. Super cheap computers are not the tool you will want to rely on for any mission-critical work. For that, you are going to need something better, a lot better.

There are good reasons for not going cheap on your next laptop. One of the main reasons is that your laptop is being asked to do a lot more these days. It is not your play thing anymore. It is your work computer. When it goes down, you don’t get paid. It is okay to blow your money on a junk computer if it is something extra. But when the work is mission-critical, get the best one you can afford.

Smartphone Plan

Based on how people use them, you would be forgiven for mistaking the primary reason for owning a smartphone to be keeping up with social media, posting selfies, and playing Candy Crush. All smartphones can do those things. The smartphone hardware is not the bottleneck; it’s the network.

You need to survey the coverage area that includes the places you are most likely to make or receive a phone call. Most phone calls are meaningless. But the important ones can be matters of life and death. When you need to make that call, you cannot afford to have insufficient bars for the call. When your family needs you to be there, make sure your cell phone plan ensures you are only one call away.

Budgeting is a must. You simply can’t spend responsibly without one. You also can’t spend responsibly if you don’t know when to go all in. The reason you budget is so you can have it to spend when it really counts. It really counts when it comes to investing, mission-critical hardware, and cell phone plans. 

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